Popina Academia

January 15th, 2023 After a very eventful and exhausting week, I wanted to get back to the January theme of Origins. This essay asks: how has working in a restaurant for most of my life affected me as a writer? Let’s start with my restaurant history. Growing up in Faribault, I worked as a cornContinue reading “Popina Academia”

thx

January 12th, 2023 Hi. Marvel and I just wanted to thank everyone who reached out to us this week. It’s been a challenging one. I can’t even imagine going through something like this alone, because I was anything but: from all the family and friends who offered kind words and support, to co-workers who letContinue reading “thx”

The Triumph of Never Growing Old and the Spirit of Never Giving Up

January 10th, 2023 “Dennis, Steve and I think you will be as great as Walt Disney but you need to know all the big WORDS! We hope this will help. Be creative?” – Inscription from a thesaurus I received in the early 90’s, from my Aunt Jan and Uncle Steve My obsession with Walt DisneyContinue reading “The Triumph of Never Growing Old and the Spirit of Never Giving Up”

Splish Splash

January 6th, 2023 I grew up taking baths. This is a weird way to start an essay, but I’m going somewhere with it. Our first house in Minneapolis had a tub (pictured here). The A-frame in East Bethel had a tub (which was disgusting, like the rest of the place). And when we moved toContinue reading “Splish Splash”

SKP 2023: Origins

January 2nd, 2023 Happy new year, friends. I decided to start this month on the second to give you all a day off from my bullshit. Every month this year I’ll be sharing posts based on a theme, with most of those themes being a creative project of mine. January’s theme is simple: origins. MyContinue reading “SKP 2023: Origins”

Sleeping Kitty Productions 2023

December 31st, 2022 Hello there. 2023 is a big year, as far as celebrating my (lack of a) creative career goes. It marks both 10 years of publishing books (a novella called Them, on April 1st, 2013), and 20 years since I released my first EP under the name The Next Step (Tangled Cords, onContinue reading “Sleeping Kitty Productions 2023”

Creator of Cooties

December 28th, 2022 “Sometimes I think the goal in writing a book is to ‘create energy’ – God save us from a raft of tepid reviews or (very possible in today’s publishing climate) no reviews at all.  If people are talking about a book passionately, that’s a good thing – we might even use thatContinue reading “Creator of Cooties”

The History of Sleeping Kitty Productions, Part I

December 23rd, 2022 “Why the sleeping cat?” There are questions I have been asked more than most others, and this is one of them. For as long as I’ve been releasing my work into the wild, I’ve been flying the banner of Sleeping Kitty Productions over, under and through it. It’s the name of myContinue reading “The History of Sleeping Kitty Productions, Part I”

The Troll Toll

December 15th, 2022 The history of philosophy is a history of trolls. The 1975 is one of my favorite bands (and my absolute favorite band most days). We saw them play at The Armory last night and it was quite possibly the best show I have ever seen. Like TikTok itself, I am obsessed withContinue reading “The Troll Toll”

R-E-S-SOBRIETY

December 11th, 2022 Okay, this is both an appreciation post for the best co-workers ever (look at this effing cake!) and a passive-aggressive reminder of what you, a normal person, can do for the sober people in your life. When people decide to get sober, it is often daunting and overwhelming. Every solid decision splintersContinue reading “R-E-S-SOBRIETY”